Method for treating hydrocarbon oils



Oct. 9, 1928.

C. P. DUBBS METHOD FOR TREATING HYDROCARBON oILs Original Filed April 15, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet Oct. 9, 1928. 1,686,654

c. P. DUBBs METHOD FOR TREATING HYDROCARBON OILS Original Filed April 15, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct; 49, 19-28.

UNITED STATES vPA'IEN'r OFFICE.

CARBON P. DUBBS, OF WILMETTE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO 'UNIVERSAL OIL PRODUCTS COMPANY, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

ninjrnonron TREATING HYDRocARBoN oILs.A

Original' application tiled April 15, 1925-, Serial No. 23,389, which in-turn is a division of Serial No. 595,743, led October 20, 1922, vthe latterbeing a continuation ofSerial No 208,206, filed December 21, 1917. Divided and this application i1ved-August 18, 1928. Serial No. 300,519.

This invention relates to a method for treating hydrocarbon/oils to produce therefrom products having lower boiling points, and is a division of my application Serial 5 No. 23,389 filed April 15, 1925, which application is a division of my application Serlal No. 595,743, iled October 20, 1922, the last named application beinga continuation of my application Serial No. 208,206, filed December 21,1917. My invent-ion contemplates, among other things, amethod whereby crude petroleum,

/ for automatically condensing the heavy vapors and returning same for V-fruther treatment; to provide a ,process whereby either water, in the shape of water or steam or both,

can be injected into the oil while undergoing treatment; to provide a process whereby any water condensed in the reflux condenser is automatically trapped and either automatically returned to the heating coils or withdrawn from the system; yto provide a process for holding a4 higher pressure upon the oil while same is circulated through the heating tubes and holding a lower pressure on the upright and settling tanks or oil receiving means and reflux condenser; toprovide a process for rapid circulation of oil in heating coils and relatively slow circulation in the settling tank; to provide a meansof contin-y uousl feeding'raw material and continuous- 1y .ta 'ng offlower boilin point products and also for continuously ta 'ng olf the residuum containing more or less free carbon; to provide a process to prevent the` free carbon or other solids from settling on the walls of 5o the heating tubes to provide aprocess whereby the forced circulation in a continuous coil creates a pressure on the oil in excess of that maintained on the rest of the apparatus 'whereby the oil in said coil can be subjected to a higher heat without being converted, to any great aniount, into vapors, and said oil is passed into a chamber of lower pressure. The boiling point of said heated oil is thereby lowered and more or less of same thus converted into vapors; to provide a process whereby the oil while being heated is maintained at a relatively high velocity and then passed in a much larger stream through a settling tank and owing to this stream being much larger its velocity has been greatly reduced which willcause the excess carbon held. in the oil to be precipitated out; to provide a'pro'cesswhereby the length of time the oilA Vbeing treated is subjected to heat during any one time is under full control; to provide a process whereby the amount of heavy vapors condensed and returned for further treatment is controlled; to provide a process for maintaining the interior surface of the tubes in a smooth highly polished condition by a process of passing the oil through same at a high velocity; to provide a process for frequently relieving the oil in the heating tubes ofits vapor contents #to provide a process for bringing part of the rsiduum to a quiescent state and allowing the free carbon or other solids to settle and withdrawing same andy returning the settled residuum back into the circulation for further treatment; to provide, in general, a process and apparatus of the character referred to.

In the draWings,- l Figure l is a side elevation of the apparatus, partly in section and partly broken away;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus, with parts in section.

Referring to the drawings, A is the furnace in which the heating tubes B are positioned. A2 is a flue tunnel connecting said furnace to stack marked A3,y B:l are return connections on the ends of the tubes B and on these returnconnections, positioned on the end of each tube, are flanges .which may. be readily removed and the interior of each of the tubes Vbe examined and cleaned.

, throttle valves.

F, F1, F2, F3, F1 and F5 are pyrometers.

G, G1, to G3 inclusive are pressure gauges.v

H, H1, H2, H3, H1 are glass liquid gauges.

J, J1are steam pumps; K is the discharge line from the heating coil B to the tank K1. K2 is the overflow from tank K1 to tank K3. and connected with K2 is line Kl1 to tank K5 having positioned on its valve E5. K6 is suction line connectingV pump J1 to tank K3 and connecting with suction line K6 is suction line K7 connecting it with tank K5 and on these two suction lines are positioned valves E6 and E1.

L is discharge line from pump J1 to the heating tubes B and L1 is the discharge line from pump J to tank K1.

M is the suction line to pump J. N is 'the draw-ofil from the bottom of tank K3, a similair one being positioned on the bottom of tank I 5.

P are the vapor lines from tanks K1, K3 and K5 leading to a reflux air condenser Q.

Q1 is a header on the lower end of the air condenser and Q2y is a header on the upper end ofthis condenser which are connected by the slanting tubes Q3, and out of t-he header Q2 extends vapor line P1 connecting with the condensing coils R positioned inA the water cooling tank B1 and extending into the top of tank S and extending out of the top of tank S is gas line S1. Q1 and Q5 are doors in the housing surrounding the tubes Q3 of the reflux air condenser Q, these doors being for the purpose of controlling the amount of air circulated around they tubes Q3.

' T is a line extending from the end of the header Q1 into the tank K3 with branch T1 extending to tank K5.

W is a line extending from the bottom of the header Q1 into the bottom of tfhe suction line K3 or can be drained into the tank X. X1, X2 and X3 are supports for the ditferent parts of the apparatus.

Y is a line entering the discharge pipe L through which steam or water or both are injected from any suitable source of supply, Y1 being another line for a similar purpose. and Z1 are steam lines to pumps J and J1.

Now describing the operation of the process, the material to be treated is drawn from any suitable source of supply through line M,

ithrough pump J, through line L1 into the different parts of the apparatus until the proper amount of the material to be treated has been charged into the said apparatus, which amount should be sufficient to lill the heating tubes B, and tank K1 to overflow into tank K3 and tank K5 to overflow suction line K6 so that suction line K6 will always be covered while pump J1 is in operation. Pump J is then shut down for the time being and pump J1 is put into operation and by this means the oil is circulated through discharge line L into and through the heating tubes B then through line K into and through tank K1 to overflow K2 into and through K3 and then to overflow suction K3, into and through pump J1 and so on as above described. Fire is placed in the furnace A and maintained at a proper temperature, lwhich temperature will range i'roin 400 to 24:00D F. The specific temperature that will be used in any one case will depend on many things, such as the volume of oil treated in any given period of time also on the velocity at which the oil is passed through the heating tubes B also on the character of the material being treat-ed.

As the oilpasses through the heating tubes B it is subjected to the proper heating and then is passed up through the oil contained in the" tank K1 and the vapors liberated in this tank pass out through the vapor lines P while the oil overlows from tank K1 through overiiow pipe K2 into tank K3 and the vapors liberated while the oil is passing through tank K3 pass up through the vapor line P into the header Q1 through air cooled tubes Q3 and into header Q2 and from there through pressure valve D through condensing coils R into receiving tank S from which the distillate is drawn either continuously or intermittently through valve E, while the uncondensable gas is drawn off through line S1.

K5 is a tank similar in detail to tank K3, and

is so connected with the apparatusby means of overflow pipe KA1 and overflow suction pipe K7 and vapor lines P, that either or both of these tanks can be used or either be cut out and cleaned while the other is in use and the apparatus maintained in operation. For instance, tank K3 can be cut out of the apparatus by the closing of the valves E2, E7, E3 and E13 which will cut out the tank K3 and by opening valves E5,-E1,E6 and E17 will put in commission the tank K5 and the tank K3 can then be cleaned; and reversing the opening and, shutting of the above mentioned valves will put tank K3 back in operation and cut out tank K5. rlhe vapors condensed in the header Q2 and the connecting pipes Q3 and header Q1 will flow into the header Q1 and then be drained back into tank K3 or tank K5 according to which is in operation, and any water condensed along with this distillate will be collected in header Q1 and can be drawn oil1 through line W into tank X by the closing of valve E1o and the opening of valve E11 or it may be returned to the apparatus into the bottom of suction line K5 Vby opening valve E10 and closing E11, or the distillate collected in Q1 may be handled in the same way. As the oil passes through tank K3 or tank K5 and while lthe volume pass# ing through this tank in any given space of time7 is as great as theoil passed through the heating tubes B in the same given time, yet the mass movement in the tankKs or tank K will be so much slower that the oil will not be able'to carry in suspension the amount of free carbon or other solids that it was'able to carry in ysuspension while passing through the heating tubes B and therefore this excess carbon or other solids will settle out in said tank K3 or tank K5 and be drawn oii' Vwith the residuum through line N and which residuum can be drawn-0H:` either intermittently or continuously, or no residuum at all is drawn'oif and the free carbon and other solids allowed to collect in the bottom of the tanks K3 or K5, and when an accumulation has been attained in either of these tanks, that particular tank can be cut out from the apparatus,.as already described, and the said tank be cleanedand then put into operation and in the meantime the free carbon and other solids will accumulate in the other tank in the same manner. A fresh supply' of raw material may be fed either continuously orintermittently into the apparatus through line M through pump J, through discharge line L1 into the bottom of tank K1.v It will be observed that the incoming charging stock passes into the tank K1, and then into either the tanks' K3 or K, thereby absorbing some of the heat of the oil for the purpose of preheating the charging stock and perhaps also vaporizing out low lboiling point ends. Steam or water or both may be fed into the apparatus through line Y into discharge line L either continuously or intermittently.

The higher the Velocity atwhich the oil is circulated through the heating tubes B, the higher will be the additional pressure on such oil while in said tubes over and above such .pressure maintained on the rest of the apparatus, andin order to increase the pressure. above that additional pressure that will be created on the oil by the velocity that it is desired to maintain the oil at in the heating tubes, I have placed a pressure regulating valve on the discharge line of these tubes and marked it D.

It will be seen that my method. herein described permits of the continuous treatment of petroleum wherein such petroleum is repeatedly subjected to a heating zone under a higher pressure than is maintained elsewhere on theapparatus, such heated oil repeatedly percolated up through a body ofl oilrepeatedly passes through a settling tank,

and While passing through the latter ,twov

places the voil .freed of its vapor contents which pass up in a reflux condenser wherein the heavy vapors are condensed and automatically returned to theapparatus while the remaining vapors pass on through the water cooled condenser and are collected separately, while the remaining unvaporized oil and condensate from the reflux lcondenser are again subjected to further heat treatment.' It will also be seeii that by'my/herein described method the distillates from the re- -luX condenser can be returned to the oil in the settling tank or returned practically direct to the suction side of the circulation pump. It will further be seen .that by my method herein described I -can use either water or steam or both in the heating tubes and such water-condensed in the reflux condenser, trapped and withdrawn from the apparatus or automatically returnedback tol the heating tubes. It will also be seen by my herein described method that I can distil practically all the oil ut into the apparatus without withdrawing rom the apparatus any substantial amount of liquid residue, but continue to feed fresh raw material into the apparatus. and yet not plug my heatin@ tubes With carbon. It will 'also be seen that by my method herein described the grade of-linal distillate allowed to pass from the process is definitely controlled by means of the reiiuX' condenser.

The pressure that can be used on `the apparatus will va from zero to 1000 pounds per square inchbut in all. cases the pressure on the oil while passing throughthe heating tubes will be more than the pressure maintained on the rest of the apparatus, and Where such rest of the apparatus is. over the pressure of one atmosphere, then such pressure is reduced toatmospheric pressure at D1.

It will be understood that the pressure main? It will be understood that while I herewith i furnish drawings and describe certain apparatus, yet I do not limit myselfto any particular construction of apparatus or arrangement of same.

The heatin coils B are from 2 to 4" in diameter. 'I e. tank K1 is approximately 3 in diameter and lOhgh. The settling tanks Kl and K5 are 10 in diameter more or less. Charging the heating tubes with gas oil from the mid continent field, having a gravity of about 32 to 34 Baume, and subjecting the .same to a heat of approximate- Vly'850" in the heating tubes and discharging the cracked oil4 therefrom to K1, a yield of 50% tov60% low boiling point distillate may be obtained, it being understood that the system is maintained under a pressure of from 100 pounds to 150 pounds. By re-distillazone of lower pressure in such a manner as would permit vaporization of said chemical constituents and checking the dissociation of said heated oil by the regulated introduction of a cooler mass of hydrocarbon oil into physical contact therewith substantially at the point of vaporization.

2. -A process for the conversion of hydrocarbon oil which consists in heating a body of relatively heavy hydrocarbon oil to a l cracking temperature, in maintaining a pressure' on said oil to prevent vaporization of a substantial proportion thereof while such oil is undergoing a cracking reaction, in introducing said' heated oil into a zone of reduced pressure where vaporization thereor` would ordinarily occur, and in checking the cracking and vaporization of said heated oil by the introduction of a cool mass of hydrocar. bon oil into said heated oil substantially as it enters said zone of reduced pressure.

3. A process for the conversion of hydrocarbon oils, which consists in heating a stream of oil to a cracking temperature above the boiling point of the complex constituents thereof, in preventing a substantial vaporization of said heated oil while `maintained at a cracking temperature to suiiiciently convert the same and under a superatmospheric pressure, in introducing the heated oil to a zone of reduced pressure in checking the vaporization of said heated oil by the introduction of a regulated quantity of cooling medium in direct physical contact with said heated oil at the point where pressure ,is reduced.

4. A process for the conversion oi hydrocarbon oils, which consists in heating'a mass of relatively heavyhydrocarbon oil to a cracking temperature above the boiling points of the complex chemical constituents of said heavy oil underV suiicient pressure to p-revent the vaporization oflany substantial portion of said chemical constituents, introducing said heated oil into a zone of lower pressure in such a manner as would permitvaporization and dissociation of said chemical constituents, and checking the dissociation of said heated oil by the regulated introduction of a cooling agent to said oil in direct physical contact therewith at the point of vaporization.

5. A process Jfor the conversion of hydrocarbon oils consisting of heating a stream of oil to a cracking temperature, in maintaining suoli oil under a pressure sufficient to prevent vaporization of a substantial portion of the oil when said oil is at a tempera- Jf'ure above its boiling point at'a'tmospheric pressure, discharging the heated oil into a zone of lower pressure, in simultaneously introducing cooling oil in physical contact with said hot oil, in said izone of lower pressure in a regulated quantity and in such a manner as to substantially check the vaporization of said hot oil, in discharging the resultant products into a pool of oil of a temperature lower than-the temperature of said products at the time they enter said pool. A

oARBoN 15. DUB'Bs. 

